I. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to wireless networks and computer communications across wireless networks. More particularly, the invention relates to the provision of an interactive screen on the display of a wireless device when the wireless device attempts to access or download a software application or data from a network server wherein the user of the wireless device must interact with the interactive screen in order to access or download the requested application or data.
II. Description of the Related Art
Wireless devices, such as cellular telephones, communicate packets including voice and data over a wireless network. Cellular telephones themselves are being manufactured with increased computing capabilities and are becoming tantamount to personal computers and handheld personal digital assistants (xe2x80x9cPDAsxe2x80x9d). Some wireless devices, such as select cellular telephones, may have an installed application programming computer platform that allows software developers to create software applications that operate on the wireless device.
On the Internet and other open networks, it is known to provide a user of a computer an interactive form when the user seeks to download or access software applications or data, such as an end-user license agreement (EULA), release, or verification form as to age, location or non-commercial status, prior to letting the user download the application. The user then must interact with the form, which sends a confirming signal back to the application download server, and then the user is given access to the application desired downloaded. However, the Internet and most LAN or WAN networks are wire-based or otherwise have inexpensive data connectivity such that bandwidth is easily available to provide interactivity between the browsing computer and the application download server. Thus, the transmission of the end-user license agreement or other verification forms and return of the confirming data does not take up significant network resources. Conversely, in a wireless network environment such as cellular telecommunications, any network connection for data transfer is expensive and the use of a user-interactive form to traverse the network prior to application download has traditionally been prohibitive.
Consequently, it is desirable to provide an interactive mechanism to a wireless device by which the user of the wireless device must interact prior to accessing data over a network. Such a mechanism needs to account for the limited bandwidth and other characteristics associated with the wireless network.
One aspect of the present invention includes one or more wireless devices where each wireless device has a computer platform and a graphic display, and the graphic display is operated by the resident driver of the computer platform that can be hardware, firmware, or software. Examples of the wireless device include cellular telephones, text pagers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), or other computer platforms with a wireless link to selectively communicate with a wireless network. The system also includes one or more network servers, such as specific application download servers, that are on the wireless network and each network server is selectively in communication with the one or more wireless devices and selectively downloading data thereto, such as software applications, graphics, and text.
If an interactive screen is sent to the wireless device from the second network server that requires the user to input data at the wireless device, then upon the user of the wireless device inputting data on the interactive screen displayed on the graphic screen of the wireless device, the wireless device sends the input data to the second network server, and the second network server sends a signal to the first network server indicating the input of data at the wireless device, and the second server downloading the requested data to the computer platform of the wireless device. Any user input data can be processed the by the receiving network server to determine if the requested download or access is permitted, such as an age verification or other consumer information.
The present invention also provides a method for displaying an interactive screen on the graphic display of a user-interactive wireless devices including attempting to download or access data or applications on the network server from a wireless device across the wireless network, transmitting a interactive screen to the computer platform of the wireless device across the wireless network prior to downloading or accessing the requested data, and displaying the interactive screen on the graphic display of the wireless device. Attempting to download data to the wireless device from the network server across the wireless network can include attempting to download a specific software application to the wireless device, or can include downloading simple data.
The method can further include interacting with the interactive screen at the wireless device, sending a signal to the network server from the wireless device indicating the interaction, and downloading or accessing the requested data on the network server. Transmitting an interactive screen to the wireless device across the wireless network can include transmitting an interactive screen from a first network server that the wireless device requested the application or data from, or can include transmitting an interactive screen from a second network server to the wireless device across the wireless network
If the system is embodied with an interactive screen that allows user input of data at the wireless device, the method further includes inputting data on the interactive screen displayed on the graphic screen of the wireless device, sending the inputted data from the wireless device to the network server, processing the input data at the network server, and selectively downloading or accessing the requested data on the network server. And if the system has a second network server transmitting the interactive screen to the wireless device, the method further includes interacting with the interactive screen displayed on the graphic screen of the wireless device, sending a signal from the wireless device to the second network server indicating the interaction, sending a signal from the second network server to the first network server indicating the interaction at the wireless device, and downloading or accessing the requested data on the first network server.
An embodiment also includes a wireless device that can perform the above function in providing an interactive screen to the wireless device, and interacting with the network server(s) to access or download data resident the applications or data made available to the wireless device. Because the inventive method is executable on the computer platform of the wireless device, the invention include a program, in a computer readable medium, that directs a wireless device having a computer platform and a graphic display to perform the steps of the method.